ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION Limited 01.08.17
LGBRITISH LEAGUE GENERAL REGULATIONS
CONTENTS
1Management12Fixture Dates & Starting Times
2Sections13League Positions
3Alteration of Regulations14Applicability ofETTA & ITTFRegulations
4Annual Conference15Forfeiture for Lateness
5 Entry16Match Result Sheets
6Registration of Players17Ranking Points
7Transfer of Players18Players' Clothing
8Right to withdraw because of Regulation change19Press & Publicity
9Conditions of Entry20Penalties
10Withdrawal from League21Protests
11Venue & Facilities
Annexes
ARegulations which Annual ConferenceDFees
maychange under delegated powersEFines & Penalties
BPlaying Conditions & EquipmentFForms
CPlayers' Clothing
1MANAGEMENT
1.1The British League is a national competition for club teams, authorised by the Board and operating under regulations approved by the Board.
1.2Subject to the over-riding authority of the Board, the British League shall be managed by a committee responsible to the CEO or his/her delegate.
1.3The Board shall appoint the Chair of the British League Committee and, in consultation with the Chair, shall appoint all other members, including a Table Tennis Board member, a Secretary, an Administrator for each section and a Table Tennis Englandstaff member.
1.4Subject to its reserved right the Board hereby delegates to the British League Annual Conference authority to alter by amending, deleting or making new regulations on the same subject matter the regulations specified in Annex A.
1.5Subject to the over-riding authority of the Board, the Committee shall have power to decide any question arising from these Regulationsand any matter concerning the conduct of the competition which is not specifically covered by these regulations.
2SECTIONS
2.1The British League shall have four separate sections, each hereinafter referred to as a section:
2.1.1The Senior British League
2.1.2The Women’s British League
2.1.3The Junior British League
2.1.4The Veterans’ British League
2.2Each section shall be governed by these general regulations and by a schedule of sectional regulations applying only to that section.
2.3A schedule of sectional regulations may be amended by the Annual Conference in the same way as these general regulations except that delegates to the Annual Conference shall only be permitted to vote on a proposition if they represent a team from the section concerned.
3ALTERATION OF REGULATIONS
3.1Propositions for changes in Regulations by the Annual Conference may be submitted by a participating Club or a member of the Board on behalf of the Board or by the Committee Secretary on behalf of the British League Committee.
3.2Any such proposition for consideration by the Annual Conference must be sent in writing to reach the Committee Secretary by the last day in February and shall be acknowledged by the Committee Secretary within 7 days.
3.3All propositions so received shall be circulated to all participating Clubs during March.
3.4Amendments or alternative propositions dealing with the same subject matter shall be accepted for consideration by Annual Conference if submitted in writing and received by the Committee Secretary not later than the last day of April.
3.5Alterations to regulations altering entry fees shall be effective for the following season only if approved by the Board before the Annual Conference; other alterations shall take effect on such date as the body making them shall specify.
4ANNUAL BRITISH LEAGUE CONFERENCE
4.1An Annual Conference shall be held in May, June or July.
4.2Notice specifying the place, date, hour and Agenda shall be given to the Secretary of every participating club not later than one calendar month before the date of the Conference.
4.3Each team which participated during the current season shall be entitled to send one delegate with power to vote on changes to these regulations and sectional regulations that the team has participated in during the current season.
4.4Additionally, every team which has been accepted to participate the following season shall be entitled to send one observer with right to speak but not to vote.
4.5Members of the Board and of the Committee shall be entitled to attend with right to speak, but not to vote unless also a delegate under Regulation 4.3
4.6The Chair of the Committee, if present, shall chair the Conference, otherwise the Conference shall elect its own chair.
4.7The minutes of the Annual Conference shall be submitted to the Board.
4.8The agenda shall include the following:
4.8.1to elect a chair, if the Chair of the Committee is not present;
4.8.2to read the minutes of the previous Annual Conference;
4.8.3to consider any matters arising from 4.8.2;
4.8.4to receive and consider the British League section of the Annual Report of the Board;
4.8.5to consider any alterations to regulations;
4.8.6to appoint a Referee for each section;
4.8.7to consider any other business of which written notice has been received by the Committee Secretary not later than one month before the annual conference.
4.9Every matter except a resolution under Regulation 1.4shall be determined by a majority of the votes of delegates under Regulation 4.3 present and voting.
4.10No resolution under Regulation 1.4 shall be declared carried unless supported by at least two thirds of the delegates under Regulation 4.3 present and voting.
4.11In the case of equality of votes the chair of the Conference shall have the casting vote (being a second vote if the chair is a delegate under Regulation 4.3).
5ENTRY
5.1Any Club which is affiliated to the English Table Tennis Association, the Guernsey Table Tennis Association, the Irish Table Tennis Association, the Isle of Man Table Tennis Association, the Jersey Table Tennis Association, the Scottish Table Tennis Association or the Table Tennis Association of Wales, either through a Local League or by direct affiliation, may apply to enter team(s) in the League.
5.2Clubs must submit documentary evidence of affiliation to the Administrator at the time of team registration.
5.3The Committee shall have power to accept or reject any application, or to remove a team from the League.
5.4Each club must appoint a Club Secretary to be responsible for its commitments to the British League.
5.5Each season each club shall pay(at the time of registration) Entry Fees, Computer Ranking Scheme Levy and Player Registration Fees and no entry will be valid without full cleared payment.
5.6Completed entry forms must be received by the Administrator on or before the date specified on the registration form and/or online submissions accepted and acknowledged bythe date specified on the online system.
6REGISTRATION OF PLAYERS
6.1Eligibility
6.1.1A Club may be represented only by players whose registration has been confirmed by the Administrator.
6.1.2A club may register any player who is not currently registered for another club participating in the same section of the British League.
6.1.3All players must hold a current ETTA Player Licence or be affiliated to the Guernsey, Irish, Isle of Man, Jersey, Scottish or Welsh Associations.
6.2Registration Procedure
6.2.1A club must register a full complement of players for each team entered at the time of team entry.
6.2.2A Club Secretary must lodge with the Administrator a completed player registration form at least 48 hours before the start of the next match, except as provided by Regulation 6.2.3.
6.2.3Players may be registered at any time up to the date specified in Regulation 4.1 of the relevant section regulations providing the player meets the criteria specified in 6.1 and the registration form is submitted with the correct player registration fee.
6.2.4In an emergency, a Club Secretary may register a player by obtaining oral agreement to registration and ranking from the Administrator. A completed player registration form and emergency player registration fee must be sent to the Administrator electronically or by first class post not later than 48 hours after the registration; failure to comply will render the registration invalid.
6.2.5Except as provided in 6.2.6, no player may be registered or transferred after the date specified in 4.1 of the relevant section regulations, in any season.
6.2.6In exceptional circumstances, with the exception of the Premier and Senior Championship Divisions, the Committee may allow a replacement registration provided that the additional player is ranked lower (on the National Ranking List in use on the day of application) than the one replaced; the newly registered player and the replaced player cannot subsequently both play in the same round (session).
6.2.7Clubs in the Junior British League and Women’s British League shall be allowed to register additional players to their lowest ranked team after the first weekend’s play, provided that they are ranked lower than all other registered players. These players can be registered following the first weekend up to 48 hours prior to the second weekend’s play.
6.2.8If the player to be registered is currently registered for another club the player registration form must be accompanied by a completed player transfer form.
6.3A registration shall be valid from the date of its receipt by the Administrator until the day following the last fixture of the current season unless previously cancelled by the Committee Secretary
6.3.1at the request of the club for which the player is registered; or
6.3.2on the completion of a player transfer form; or
6.3.3on the club for which the player is registered withdrawing all its teams from the League.
7TRANSFER OF PLAYERS
7.1For the purpose of this regulation 'transfer' shall include the registration of any player who has at any time during the same season been registered for another club.
7.2A club wishing to sign a player currently registered for another club must inform that other club before making any approach to the player.
7.3A player may transfer from one club to another at any time up to the date specified in regulation 4.1 of the relevant section regulations, in any season.
7.4A player may transfer to any club, provided they have not played any matches in the current season. If the player has played one or more matches in the current season they may only play in a division higher than the one they were previously registered in.
7.5Registration of Transfer
7.5.1The Administrator shall register a player for the club to which he has transferred on receipt of a completed transfer form accompanied by the fee shown in Annex D.
7.5.2The transfer form must be signed by:
7.5.2.1the player;
7.5.2.2the secretary of the club from which the player has transferred;
7.5.2.3the secretary of the club to which the player has transferred.
7.6The transfer form, which shall contain a declaration by the player that he is not under any contractual obligation to continue to play for the club from which he is transferring, shall be signed by the player before it is submitted for signature by the secretary of that club.
7.7In exceptional circumstances, with the exception of the Premier division, the League Committee may allow a player to be transferred after the date specified in Regulation 4.1 of the relevant section regulations, provided that the transferred player is ranked lower than the replaced player (on the National Ranking list in use on the day of application); the transferred player and the replaced player cannot subsequently both play in the same round (session).
8RIGHT TO WITHDRAW BECAUSE OF REGULATION CHANGE
8.1If any of these Regulations are changed by the Annual Conference or by the Board after a team has entered, a club shall be entitled to withdraw that team and have the entry fee refunded provided that the team is withdrawn
8.1.1in the case of a Regulation being changed by the Board without recommendation from the Annual Conference, not later than 7 days after being notified of the change;
8.1.2in any other case 7 days prior to the Annual Conference.
9CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
9.1Acceptance of an entry shall be conditional upon the club concerned satisfying the Committee as to its ability to meet the requirements set out in Annex B (Playing Conditions & Equipment),Annex C (ITTF Regulations), Annex D (Fees), Annex E (Club Commitments) and Annex H (Player Clothing).
9.2All clubs are required to continue to meet the requirements of 9.1.
9.2.1If the Committee is not satisfied that a club is doing so, that club will be notified in writing of the conditions not being met and be given 30 days to make good.
9.2.2If the club fails to meet the deadline specified in 9.2.1 the Committee shall have the right to withdraw its team from the competition.
10WITHDRAWAL FROM LEAGUE
10.1If a club withdraws a team from the League before it has completed all its fixtures the record of that team shall be completely expunged and the club shall be liable to a fine of the amount shown in Annex E or such lesser amount as the Committee may decide.
10.2If the withdrawal of a team results in the club having no teams in the League the registrations of all players registered for that club shall be cancelled.
10.3Players that are de-registered as a result of 10.2 are eligible to sign for another club providing they have either not played in the current season or they are registering for a club where they will compete in the same or higher division than the one they have already played in, in accordance with the section regulations.
11VENUE & FACILITIES
11.1Playing conditions and equipment shall conform to the requirements set out in Annex B.
11.2The table allocated for the first match of the day shall be available for practice for 60 minutes prior to the commencement of the first round of matches as follows:
11.2.1first 20 minutes - team scheduled as home team
11.2.2second 20 minutes - team scheduled as away team
11.2.3next 10 minutes - team scheduled as home team
11.2.4last 10 minutes - team scheduled as away team
11.3For all subsequent matches, when the table becomes available, practice time on the table allocated for each match shall be divided equally between the two teams, with the team scheduled as the home team taking the first half.
12FIXTURE DATES & STARTINGTIMES
12.1The fixture dates and starting times for matches shall be decided by the Administrator.
12.2The competition website shall be the principal source for fixture information.
12.3Fixtures will be published on the competition website at least 2 weeks prior to the event.
13LEAGUE POSITIONS
13.1A team shall be awarded 2 League Points for a win and 1 League Point for a draw.
13.2Position in the League shall be determined primarily by the number of League Points won.
13.2.1if two or more teams are equal on League Points, their relative positions shall be determined by the3ratios of individual matches won to individual matches lost;
13.2.2if they are still equal, their relative positions shall be determined by the ratios of games won to games lost.
14APPLICABILITY OF ETTA & ITTF REGULATIONS
14.1There shall apply to the matches governed by these Regulations the ETTA Regulations for Competitive Table Tennis and, in so far as they are not inconsistent with these Regulations and do not themselves limit their applicability to competitions other than this, the current ITTF Regulations for International Competitions 3.2 to 3.5, covering Equipment and Playing Conditions, Match Officials, Match Conduct and Discipline.
14.2In all matches governed by these Regulations the regulations concerning racket testing shall apply.
15FORFEITURE FOR LATENESS
16.1If a team is not ready to play by 30 minutes after the scheduled starting time it shall forfeit the match and shall be liable to a fine.
15.2A player who is not ready to play 10 minutes after the match umpire has called his or her individual matchshall forfeit that match.
16MATCH RESULT SHEETS
16.1All match result sheets must be handed to the match referee or other designated official.
16.2The referee is required to select a player of the match, with the exception of the Veterans' British League.
16.3If a referee is not present then a player will be selected by a computer, based on a statistical calculation, with the exception of the Veterans' British League.
17RANKING POINTS
17.1All matches played in the British League will be subject to ETTA ranking points.
18PLAYERS' CLOTHING
18.1Players’ clothing shall conform to the requirements set out in Annex C.
19PRESS & PUBLICITY
19.1The League operates a press and publicity service.
19.2Permission to photograph and video competitors is a condition of entry, but players under 18 can opt-out by informing the referee before play commences.
19.3The Committee can use photos and videos for publicity and promotion.
20PENALTIES
20.1Penalties shall be imposed for offences as shown in Annex E, except where the Committee decides to impose a lesser penalty.
20.2The warning, fine or penalty shall be notified to the club by the Committee Secretary.
20.3At the same time as being notified of a fine or penalty the club shall be informed that it may appeal against its imposition, such appeal to be made not later than 10 days after the notification.
20.4Every fine shall be paid not later than 28 days after the date on which the notification is sent, unless the club has appealed to the Committee against its imposition.
Note: If the fine remains unpaid after 21 days a reminder will be sent, but failure to send or receive20 thereminder will not invalidate the application of Regulation20.5.
20.5If a fine has not been paid within 28 days of notification the amount of the fine shall be doubled.
20.6Any appeal shall be adjudicated by the Committee, excluding the Administrator and any member of the Committee who is also a member of the appealing club.
20.7If the Committee decides that a team is guilty of persistent breach of these Regulations it may expel that team from the League.
21PROTESTS& APPEALS
21.1All protests regarding the conduct of the competition shall be initially presented to the organiser by the team captain only.
21.2A club that wishes to formalise aprotest must put the protest in writing and submit it to the Secretary within 5 days of the original notification to the organiser.
21.3The Secretary will acknowledge receipt of the protest within 5 days.
21.4If the protest involves another player or club then all parties will be notified within 5 days.
21.5The written protest will be discussed at the next Committee meeting and a response will be sent to all parties involved within 5 days.
21.6A club may appeal to the Board of Appeal against any action or decision of the Committee.
Annex A: Regulations which may be changed by the Annual Conferenceunder POwers delegated by the Board in Regulation1.4
Regulations 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 but excluding the contents of all Annexes, plus all Regulations contained in competition specific documents LS, LJ, LW and LV.
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Annex B: PLAYING CONDITIONS & EQUIPMENT
1The playing space shall be not less than 12m long, 6m wide and 4m high (ETTA Grade 2) for Senior Premier Division matches and should be not less than 10m long, 5m wide (ETTA Grade 3) and 3m high for other matches.
2The playing area shall be delineated by dark-coloured screens or surrounds, about 75cm high, along each end and with at least one screen at right angles to the end screens to indicate each corner of the playing area.